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'Dinotopia' creator James Gurney to speak free at SCAD museum

James Gurney's original "Dinotopia" has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide.

Author and illustrator James Gurney, best known for his "Dinotopia" book series, will give a free lecture at the SCAD Museum of Art on Sept. 17.

At 5 p.m., Gurney will discuss the way that he creates and thinks through his paintings and his world building. This will be followed by a demonstration using watercolor pencils at 6 p.m. and a book signing at 6:30 p.m.

"Dinotopia" portrays a fictional island utopia inhabited by humans and sentient dinosaurs that formed a complex, interdependent society. Gurney's work, compared to that of Jules Verne and J.R.R. Tolkien, has been translated into 18 languages in more than 30 countries. THe original book sold more than 2 million copies.

Gurney specializes in painting realistic images of scenes that can’t be photographed, from dinosaurs to ancient civilizations. He has worked on more than a dozen assignments for National Geographic magazine, painting reconstructions of Moche, Kushite and Etruscan civilizations.